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I learned recently that John Cleese's name might have very well have been John Cheese, after his grandfather John Edwin Cheese. But for some reason, Reginald (John's father) changed his name from Cheese to Cleese when he joined the army in 1915.

In honour of his name, I feel compelled to quote 'The Cheese Shop' Sketch in it's entirety:

*** The Cheeseshop Sketch*** From Monty Python's Brand New Papperbok*** Transcribed from tape by Malcolm Dickinson <clarinet@yalevmx>, 4/4/86**spelling corrected by Burr <west@yalevmx> to the best of his ad hoc abilities

*** The Cheese Shoppe ***

(a customer walks in the door.)

Customer: Good Morning.Owner: Good morning, Sir. Welcome to the National Cheese Emporium!Customer: Ah, thank you, my good man.Owner: What can I do for you, Sir?C: Well, I was, uh, sitting in the public library on Thurmon Street just now, skimming through "Rogue Herrys" by Hugh Walpole, and I suddenly came over all peckish.O: Peckish, sir?C: Esuriant.O: Eh?C: 'Ee, Ah wor 'ungry-loike!O: Ah, hungry!C: In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, "a little fermented curd will do the trick," so, I curtailed my Walpoling activites, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles!O: Come again?C: I want to buy some cheese.O: Oh, I thought you were complaining about the bazouki player!C: Oh, heaven forbid: I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!O: Sorry?C: 'Ooo, Ah lahk a nice tuune, 'yer forced too!O: So he can go on playing, can he?C: Most certainly! Now then, some cheese please, my good man.O: (lustily) Certainly, sir. What would you like?C: Well, eh, how about a little red Leicester.O: I'm, a-fraid we're fresh out of red Leicester, sir.C: Oh, never mind, how are you on Tilsit?O: I'm afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir, we get it fresh on Monday.C: Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four ounces of Caerphilly, if you please.O: Ah! It's beeeen on order, sir, for two weeks. Was expecting it this morning.C: 'T's Not my lucky day, is it? Aah, Bel Paese?O: Sorry, sir.C: Red Windsor?O: Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down.C: Ah. Stilton?O: Sorry.C: Ementhal? Gruyere?O: No.C: Any Norweigan Jarlsburg, per chance.O: No.C: Lipta?O: No.C: Lancashire?O: No.C: White Stilton?O: No.C: Danish Brew?O: No.C: Double Goucester?O: No.C: Cheshire?O: No.C: Dorset Bluveny?O: No.C: Brie, Roquefort, Pol le Veq, Port Salut, Savoy Aire, Saint Paulin, Carrier de lest, Bres Bleu, Bruson?O: No.C: Camenbert, perhaps?O: Ah! We have Camenbert, yessir.C: (suprised) You do! Excellent.O: Yessir. It's..ah,.....it's a bit runny...C: Oh, I like it runny.O: Well,.. It's very runny, actually, sir.C: No matter. Fetch hither the fromage de la Belle France! Mmmwah!O: I...think it's a bit runnier than you'll like it, sir.C: I don't care how fucking runny it is. Hand it over with all speed.O: Oooooooooohhh........! C: What now?O: The cat's eaten it.C: Has he.O: She, sir.(pause)C: Gouda?O: No.C: Edam?O: No.C: Case Ness?O: No.C: Smoked Austrian?O: No.C: Japanese Sage Darby?O: No, sir.C: You...do *have* some cheese, don't you?O: (brightly) Of course, sir. It's a cheese shop, sir. We've got-C: No no... don't tell me. I'm keen to guess.O: Fair enough.C: Uuuuuh, Wensleydale.O: Yes?C: Ah, well, I'll have some of that!O: Oh! I thought you were talking to me, sir. Mister Wensleydale, that's my name.

(pause)

C: Greek Feta?O: Uh, not as such.C: Uuh, Gorgonzola?O: noC: Parmesan,O: noC: Mozarella,O: noC: Paper Cramer,O: noC: Danish Bimbo,O: noC: Czech sheep's milk,O: noC: Venezuelan Beaver Cheese?O: Not *today*, sir, no.(pause)C: Aah, how about Cheddar?O: Well, we don't get much call for it around here, sir.C: Not much ca--It's the single most popular cheese in the world!O: Not 'round here, sir.C: and what IS the most popular cheese 'round hyah?O: 'Illchester, sir.C: IS it.O: Oh, yes, it's staggeringly popular in this manusquire.C: Is it.O: It's our number one best seller, sir!C: I see. Uuh...'Illchester, eh?O: Right, sir.C: All right. Okay. "Have you got any?" He asked, expecting the answer 'no'.O: I'll have a look, sir.. nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno.C: It's not much of a cheese shop, is it?O: Finest in the district!C: (annoyed) Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.O: Well, it's so clean, sir!C: It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese....O: (brightly) You haven't asked me about Limburger, sir.C: Would it be worth it?O: Could be....C: Have you --SHUT THAT BLOODY BAZOUKI OFF!O: Told you sir...C: (slowly) Have you got any Limburger?O: No.C: Figures. Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place. Tell me:O: Yessir?C: (deliberately) Have you in fact got any cheese here at all.O: Yes,sir.C: Really?(pause)O: No. Not really, sir.C: You haven't.O: Nosir. Not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time,sir.C: Well I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to shoot you.O: Right-0, sir.